A: Neither.
Garmin is listed on the NYSE and is legally headquartered in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, following a move from the Cayman Islands in 2010. The move to Switzerland was almost certainly to take advantage of the country’s favourable tax system, extensive network of tax treaties, and its well-developed corporate, legal, and regulatory environment. [Mühlentalstrasse 2, 8200 Schaffhausen, Switzerland]
However, for practical purposes, the company’s corporate functions are run out of Olathe, Kansas. This includes marketing, innovation, finance, customer support and product development. There are also manufacturing/assembly facilities at that location, but those are for aviation systems, automotive products, and circuit boards, not wearables. It would seem that the werables are, however, designed in Olathe. [1200 E. 151st Street Olathe, KS 66062 USA]
Garmin was founded in 1989 by Gary Burrell and Min H. Kao, hence the name GarMin. Mr Kao is a Taiwanese-American, which explains the company’s links to Taiwan, where further manufacturing and assembly occur. Indeed, Garmin’s wearables are assembled (made) in Taiwan. Specifically, the wearables are made at Taoyuan [No. 270, Huaya 2nd Road, Guishan District, Taoyuan City 333, Taiwan], whereas the regional office is in Taipei [No. 68, Zhangshu 2nd Road, Xizhi District, New Taipei City 221, Taiwan]
Q: But the components come from China?
A: Yes.Mostly
Q: So, Garmin watches are Chinese, then?
A: No, not legally.
Taiwan is 100 miles from China. It is geographically close to many of its component suppliers -the company probably has an agile and cost-effective supply chain covering a few hundred suppliers. However, I understand that regardless of the source of components, Garmin’s smartwatches are classified as “Made in Taiwan” for tariff purposes. This classification is determined by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) based on the country where the final assembly occurs. According to CBP ruling HQ H322417, Garmin’s watches are manufactured in Taiwan because the printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) is produced there.
China vs Taiwan Tariffs
The US President’s tariffs on imports from anywhere in the world penalise Chinese-origin products more than those from Taiwan. As of 21 April 2025, the tariff situation is somewhat ‘up in the air’, but on that date, it is uneconomical to import smartwatches in the USA that are made in China. However, a reasonably likely outcome is that by the end of 2025, tariffs on Chinese-origin goods will remain higher than those from Taiwan.
That will certainly financially favour Garmin over almost all of its smart/sport watch competitors.
But Taiwan is China anyway, right?
It’s not entirely clear if Taiwan is an independent country or part of China. China (PRC) certainly sees Taiwan as part of the PRC, but in an ambiguous situation of “one country, two systems”, the US also accepts strategic ambiguity.
The Taiwanese think otherwise and live in one of the most successful and democratic countries. It’s a more democratic country than you and I live in (the USA ranks 28th as a ‘flawed democracy’ and technically is a republic or democratic republic).
Takeout
Garmin watches are made in Taiwan.
But if you ask someone in China, the answer is that they are made in a part of China. But almost the entire rest of the world disagrees.
Many non-Americans are currently hacked off with the tariff situation and are boycotting American-made goods. You’ve read the article. Does that mean you are boycotting Garmin? Are you boycotting the USA, Taiwan, or China? Or even Switzerland?
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Officially the US has a policy of “strategic ambiguity” about whether the Republic of China (Taiwan) is independent from the People’s Republic of China. But there is a historical separation and a separate governance structure, military, and constitution.
yep: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_status_of_Taiwan
I think the thing I found most interesting about the article was that Garmin uses historically super sketchy tax haven countries as their headquarters. The Cayman Islands is somewhere you find companies that are trying to evade taxes use as their headquarters and or to hide money. Switzerland offers many of the same benefits as The Caymans but with stricter Northern European privacy rights and a super stable govt.
In the end I suppose it doesn’t matter, but as a consumer that wants to give money to “Responsible” companies that don’t do what oligarchs do, well then………..
ultimately all public comapnies have a responsiility to their shareholders to maximise profits (you can debate exactly what that means). however the firm implication is that the directors/execs have to maximise profits by minimising taxes paid.
probably ALL major companies do similar things to artificially relocate tax burdens to countries with more favourable tax regimes. eg the rise of tech companies in Ireland, eg Amazon in Luxembourg and so it goes on
it’s a complete joke
if you imagine the situation, say, 40 years ago there were many smaller companies (shops) in small towns and money/profits would mostly get re-circulated locally. now it gets siphoned off to ‘somewhere else’. it’s not hard to contemplete the implications that have befallen us all in recent decades